Project BAMSFH™ - Part 9c - The Catchingupinator Part 2

I had a decently productive weekend even though I really only got time to work on the bike Sunday... and the heat was pretty oppressive and kept me from working more than a couple of hours at a time.

I ended up helping out a friend on Saturday which took up most of the day. But Sunday I got up bright and early and started getting things together to put the front end back together. I had received the new fork seals/dust caps before the weekend along with the crush washers I was looking for. I cleaned out the fork clamps to get the rust and dirt out of them then slid the forks up and in. I set them to about where they were before based on marks, but then realized that I don't recall seeing anything telling me exactly where they should be set to. I went online and grabbed as many pictures of V30s as I could showing the top of the forks and where they sat and am confident that they are back where they should be and that it is the location where they should sit by default. It did bother me that there is nothing holding the forks in other than clamp pressure. I guess if I was doing wheelies or jumping off ramps it would really matter. But as long as I torque them down to specs I can satisfied.

I loosely installed the fork brace (including the reinforced plate) and got the forks roughly aligned and ready for the front wheel and tightened the fork clamps to a little more than hand tight plus a 1/4 turn on the wrench to make sure the forks could support the front wheel weight once I put that back on. That's when I realized that I had forgotten to finish cleaning up the front fender... it was pretty rusty on the underside and the top chrome was not very pretty either as you can kinda see from the photos. I broke out the autosol polish and 0000 steel wool and went to town on the rust. It took some effort but I got about 90% of it gone on the inside, and since it really won't be seen, I called it good. The Autosol protects as well, so I wasn't too worried about needing to do much more than apply a final coat of the protectant. I went ahead and scrubbed the top pretty good and got most of the big rust off and mounted the fender. The front wheel went on pretty easy once I got the order of operations right. I got my order of operations wrong as I tried to put it all together, then couldn't figure out why the brake side was so roomy... then I remembered the speedo cable/housing. Doh! Off comes the axle and one more time, then forget to put the spacer on AFTER pushing the axle through the right side mount. DOH! OK, off comes the axle, spacer off, axle in, spacer INSIDE between right fork and wheel, through the wheel, through the speedo housing, into the left fork. YAY! Loosely tightened to hold everything in place.

OK! Front wheel on and roughly lined up, I lowered the jack putting weight on the front end again. Using this as the "level" I visually inspected everything and once satisfied that it was as level as I could get it, I tightened up the fork brace and then the fork clamps. One more visual check and then I put the brake caliper on and installed the new crush washers on the caliper end and tightened it all down. 

I moved up to the Master cylinders and replaced the crush washers all around as well as the ones on the clutch slave. I topped off the masters with new fluid and was able to pretty quickly bleed the front brakes. The clutch was being a pain, but it also angles weird with how the cables run so getting air out of that system has always been more... fun. I squeezed the clutch lever and tied it off to sit over night and we shall see how it goes from there. Otherwise I will have to start bleeding from the clutch slave and moving my way up. The crush washers did seem to do the job as I'm not hearing any leaks or noises, so that's good. 

My hope is to get home in time to work on one or two things each night and to get the rear end this weekend. I may only have one day again to work on things this Saturday, so we shall see. I plan to run a couple of gallons of apple cider vinegar through the reserve this week, then once it's nice and clean get it back into the frame and bolted down so I can fill it up with gas immediately. Then I can run the new fuel lines from reserve tank to carbs and then get the rear tire back on. Once that's done, I'll button up the rest of the body panels and rear fender, then tackle the final (hopefully last for a while) carb clean. If I can get all that done this week/weekend and get the carbs back onto the motor, I can do the vinegar soak on the main tank starting friday night, letting it soak til Sat morning and then once clean get it back on and filled with gas. I'm going to be conservative here though and plan for at least one more week before I can clean/re-install the main tank. Slowly but surely it is coming together and Albee will be better off for it. 

Skip a week...

This past weekend I only got one full day to work on the bike. Reserve tank flushed with apple cider vinegar, rinsed out, then filled with EvapoRust and let to sit for a while longer. Due to the angles and shape of the inlets, it's really hard to see inside the tank to see how clean it is getting, but after a few hours of EvapoRust soaking, I was not getting any further chunks coming out. I also get solid flow out all the lines including the bottom line. I am calling it good enough for now and ran the hair dryer through it for several minutes getting it nice and dry.... and hot. I then installed it into the frame and connected up the new fuel line to the petcock and filled it up with gas. No leaks! Then I started putting all the rear end stuffs back on. I had taken the change to clean off most of the rear fender parts, but did not disconnect any of the top most plastic bits since most of those had wiring on them. My plan is to get the rear tire on and lined up and the chain tension set, then roll it out onto the lawn and give it a good hose down and scrubbing to clean off all that dust and dirt from sitting so long. 

So all those little things? Yeah, I ended up pulling the clutch master off and tearing it down almost totally. Turns out that I either didn't get it as clean as I originally thought, or due to how long this whole process is taking, it got clogged again. Either way, I cleaned out the return hole and made sure I had pressure going the correct way with the plunger. Once cleaned and remounted, I was able to build pressure pretty quickly after bleeding it. I'm pretty sure I got most of it, but letting it sit won't hurt any while I finish the rest of the rear end stuffs. 

I also found a right angle fitting that matched the fuel pump inlet on the aftermarket fuel pump I had to install. The new pump was a straight through style which if you recall meant I had to run the fuel line danger close to the exhaust manifold. With the right angle fitting, it keeps the hose further back than the other lines back there, so I'm feeling a bit happier about that. I only found one fitting otherwise I would have done the filter side as well. However, since the filter sits loosely in the cradle, it slides back out of the way and stays there a lot easier. New fuel lines all around also make me feel better about keeping her running once I'm done putting it all back together. 

Project BAMSFH™ - Part 9b - The Catchingupinator

Catching up on everything I have done in parts to make it easier to digest and attach photos to later.

I pulled the front forks to try to get the seals clean and found I did in fact have a blown seal on the left fork. Order to V4market for new seals once I pay some bills. The old sponge fell apart to almost dust trying to get it out. The right side wasn't a lot better but held mostly together.

I did manage to get the new site glass lenses for the master cylinders in place. Rebuilt the front brake caliper with new pistons and such and gave it a good cleaning even though I'd done most of this already when I first started this project. I also installed the new slave cylinder gasket. I need to find a source for crush washers for all the banjo fittings as I think they are all slowly giving up the ghost and letting air leak past.

While stopped at the local Cycle Gear for bike wash and wheel cleaner, I found out about a little shop behind them that will mounts tires. $23/piece. Ran home and grabbed the old rims/tires and the new ones that had just come in. $46 later, Albee's got new dancing shoes. I still need to clean up the rims/wheels really well and prolly run some sandpaper over the rotor to clean it up a bit. I'm thinking a new rotor is on the list for the coming months but I have other things to pay for right now.

In the process of pulling the forks, I removed the front fender and found a mass of rust. I initially poured in the old EvapoRust but it was so used at this point that it only sightly started to get the rust off. I did grab a couple of gallons of apple cider vinegar and poured some of that in after dumping the Evaporust. Let it sit for a good 30mins and it really started to take off that stubborn rust. I cleaned it out and rinsed it and gave it a quick 3in1 oil wipedown. I'll spend more time on that later but means I need to be really good at pulling parts to clean the rust off especially things I don't directly look at.

I have wintergreen oil that should be showing up today with which I will start reconditioning gaskets and the old carb boots that are now spares. I had already bought brand new ones before the wintergreen secret was revealed. Sol good as I like having spares of parts. I am also going to try reconditioning the float bowl gaskets as backups along with any other rubber parts I find along the way that might make good candidates for restoration.

I pulled the forks in preparation for replacing the fork seals since the left one was leaking pretty bad. Once I got them off and started cleaning out the cavity to get to the seal, I realized it might be salvageable. I wiped it all down and pulled out the plastic ring and what was left of the foam seal thingy. Then I broke out the seal saver hook and started cleaning out the seal. After pulling some junk out it started coming out pretty clean. I wiped everything down again and then started putting my weight on the fork to compress it and release it. Seeing how dirty the oil was as it compressed. Thankfully that seemed to be the problem as I was able to compress and release with no oil residue as well and compressing it sideways/upside down in order to "force as leak" and nothing further came out. I proceeded to 0000 steel wool/Marvel Oil the rusty spots as well as some oily dirty bits and got both forks pretty clean. They both need some serious polishing, but for now I'm OK with cosmetic as long as the internals are working good.

 

Flush with the knowledge that I don't have to shell out another $40, I went ahead and cleaned the wheels while they are off the bike. I degreased the hell out of them making sure that I protected the bearings. I scrubbed them down pretty good in the hard to reach off the bike places and gave a simple wipe down for the rest. I figure I will put her through a good full detailing once she is running again. But for now, I just wanted to get most of the grunge and oil off.

I next started on polishing off the rusty front fender, again with 0000 steel wool and Marvel oil, but they are pretty nasty/rusty. I might just have to settle for good enough on those. I also have a LOT of rust spots all over the lower frame including the controls that I will have to eventually get to. I wish I had a simply easy effective way to remove rust from chrome without elbow grease.

All in all, progress is being made. I have brake shoes coming this week and then I can clean the chain/lube and put the rear wheel back on. I also ordered dust caps which should come in soon and then I can put the front end back together. I was going to pull the carbs and start cleaning on them, but I knew that I wouldn't get to them this week unless I got lucky. But the various seals and o-rings are soaking in wintergreen/alcohol solution and should be nice and soft by then. I intend to keep the old carb boots as backups just in case.

Project BAMSFH™ - Part 9

Project BAMSFH™ - Part 9 - a.k.a Where have I been for 7 months...

Long story... long long painful (sometimes boring) story. 

So, when we last left our intrepid Hero, he was looking forward to the final steps in getting BAMSFH running on road legal. Things were looking up for our guy in greasy coveralls, as I was finally able to get the paperwork in hand and down to the DMV to pay the fees and get the title transferred to me. Albee is now registered, insured, and as far as everyone and DMV is concerned, owned by me. And there was much rejoicing. 

However... (dun dun dun dun)

I hit a bit of a snag around the same time as I was finishing the last bit of the title saga. Since I didn't start with a full on top to bottom fuel system cleaning, I kept pushing more crap back into the carbs. The final straw was once I got the idle smooth and choke off. She rev'ed fine and didn't seem to hesitate at all. I felt confident I could take a ride around the block to the nearest Subway and see how she did. On the way there, she ran like a top, nice and smooth with good power. But as I am pulling into the parking lot, she starts to die. I give her some gas and she starts to recover only to stall out completely as I rolled into the parking spot. I shut her off and take a quick look see and don't see anything obviously wrong. I decide to give her a few minutes to cool off as I head into the Subway to place my dinner order. Back outside, I try to fire her up and she won't go. She's trying but it's definitely a gas thing. I know that is full, and I can't easily get to the filter to check it due to it's location under the battery. After a few cranks an no catches, I start to push her home. Thank the gods for a <500lb bike and only being around the block. Still the longest "around the block" I've been on in a while. 

I get home and into the driveway and go inside to eat and cool down from the effort. I hook up the trickle charger because I know I have been abusing the battery a lot lately. About an hour later, I am back out and trying to get her to start. She tried but sputtered out again. I'm frustrated... I'm tired... I've lost all hope that this bike is fixable by me. I lock everything up and I go inside. 

My plan at this point was to find a local mechanic who would take her in and do the things I couldn't do because of lack of space and no garage. Of course money is tight and other things are going on taking up the spare cash so I keep putting off finding a mechanic. The few I do bother to look up are all very high priced and i'm pretty sure I would spend more than the bike was worth getting it running. So instead she sits. Every so often I remember to hook up the trickle charger again, but for the most part she just sits. I wasn't too terribly worried about gas varnish this time around as I has put in some Stabil stuff into the tank that got run into the carbs before she died so there was that at least. 

Skip forward a few months and still nothing is going right for me to get her into a shop. We ended up having to buy a new truck to replace my aging Jeep which ate into our limited savings. Then I get word from my job that they are letting me go. Well fuck! That puts a damper on paying for bike stuffs. And a good thing I didn't take her in and use up the rest of my savings. But things were looking up. A friend was trying to get rid of two roommates that he was not happy with. We offered to be the replacements and started negotiating the deal. It seemed too good to be true and ended up being a bit of work to make it work out... plus it took much longer than we expected to get the old roommates out before we could move in. Eventually we were able to move in around beginning of May and started to get settled.  

Albee went into the side yard for now while we figure out the garage situation. The friend has his own small metal shop along with a bench setup for making jewelry. The middle of the garage is setup for storage as they never really used it for cars. I was hoping to make use of the garage for Albee, but that was not going to happen due to the layout and everyones needs. So instead I hauled a 10x10 popup out of storage, bought 4 tarp walls and clamps, and setup my own garage in the back yard. Setup a table out there and took my tools and such out as well then rolled Albee into her new home for a few months. 

The garage:

Now that I can actually tear things down and clean everything right, I started taking her down to frame and engine. I was not planning on doing anything major to the engine just yet. I started just like before by draining the tanks, and man was that nasty at first. All that rusty grungy gas was trying to and mostly succeeding in getting into the carbs. Once drained, I pulled the main tank and set that aside. I'm not going to start on the de-rusting until I'm mostly ready to button it all back up since last time I cleaned it too soon and it rusted back up on me. 

Next came taking the rear wheel off to check/clean/replace the read brakes and check the wheel bearings. Turns out the PO before parking her replaced the bearings as they look in great shape and spin very freely, which kinda sucks since I had ordered new front and rear bearings thinking that they haven't been touched for 7+ years if at all. Rear sprocket also looks good but I will get a second opinion on that when I take the wheel in to get the new shoes put on. Chain is also looking good even though a bit rusty. I will pull it off and check the front sprocket so that I can get it nice and clean. The rear wheel was set in pretty far on the tensioner, meaning that the chain is not old and stretched. Unless I see any warning signs during the removal and cleaning, I'm calling the chain good. Brake shoes are definitely worn but not down to any level of concern for the drum surface. I went over the wheel drum with brake cleaner and 0000 steel wool to get it nice and pretty smooth. 

With the rear wheel out, I was able to remove the rear fender and get the reserve tank out. Getting the rear fender out was a pain in the ass, but not totally complicated. My concern will be getting it all back into place correctly later. Fingers crossed I can puzzle it together and thankfully the service manual and fiche all show it going together properly. The reserve tank was nasty... shaking it out poured clumps of crap and rust. I got most of it out and then poured in some Evapo-rust and swished it around a bit then dumped that out. In just the minute or so of swishing it already fouled the evapo-rust. Once I got most of the bigger chunks out I plugged up the holes and filled it with evapo-rust and shook it up good. I'll be letting that sit for quite a while I thing to make sure all the crap gets cleaned. This got me worried about the main tank, so I grabbed it and shook it... rattle rattle rattle... like sand and rocks. Crap. I spent a few minutes shaking the crap out of the main tank to get as much chunk and powder out as I could then set it aside... I'll focus on it later. 

Even when you think you got the tanks cleaned, there is always something left in there. 

Once the reserve tank was setup, I cleaned the brake shoe part of the drum really good and set that aside for the new brake shoes. Then it was on to the clutch slave cylinder. I had picked up a rebuild kit and decided now was the time to replace it. As I was slowly and carefully pumping the clutch to get the piston to work itself out to a position where I could grab it, it reached a point where it wasn't moving any further. I ended up having to bleed the clutch lines to finally get enough pressure to push the piston out. Turns out that I have a slight leak up in the top banjo bolt as I could hear it slurping as I pumped the clutch lever. I added that to the To-Do list for now and went back to the slave cylinder.

It all came apart pretty easy and the replacement parts were all very straight forward to put on. I had a little issue at first getting the piston back in, but then remembered that I am a tool using primate and grabbed the brake fluid and lubed up the cylinder and seals. Then it all slid into place. I pushed air out and did a slight bleed to get it all set and then went to put the slave back on when I noticed the gasket was pretty hosed. Sigh... I went ahead and cleaned up the surfaces and bolted it back on for now. Added a new gasket to the order for that night. 

I was tempted to start the replacement on the site-glass as well, but its been pretty hot and I needed a break plus I knew that I would be replacing the front brake pistons next weekend once those come in from V4market. So when I go to replace the clutch slave gasket and then the front brakes i'll drain the masters and replace the site-glass.

Project BAMSFH™ - Part 8

Project BAMSFH™ - Part 8 - Yeah, it was a train...

So... yeah... It's been over a month since the last update to Project BAMSFH™ and unfortunately it was in fact a train coming towards me. Not a literal one of course... but close enough. 

12/11/2013
I finally put the battery in for the first time since hauling it home. I'm still not ready to test fire it, but I wanted to know how bad the electrics might be. So far so good with only one big issue and one small issue.

• Running lights check out good and all came on as expected. 
• Turn signals work... but I discovered big issue #1. The switch itself is going out or bad. I can turn on the signals left/right but only if I push the switch in just the right way. I hear the signal box clicking away, but no lights sometimes, but mainly the switch itself is squishy with no positive lock left/right or center/cancel. I will try to tear it apart tonight or this weekend.
• Headlights work... well Low Beam does. High beam switch kills low beam as it should but then no high beam. This is most likely just a bad bulb. 
• Horn works
• Brake light works from both front brake switch and rear brake switch.
• License plate light works.

Also discovered the "Off...but stuck on the side of the road" position in the ignition. Between Off and Steering lock there is a position that keeps the running lights on. There is even a little "P" marked on the ignition to say I'm in PARK. Good to know... and it works. 

The next day I was able to crack open the turn signal housing and began to clean it out. It was pretty nasty in there with a super thick and crusty residue most likely from some sort of grease. I pulled everything apart and cleaned it up really good then started reassembly. I used some good white lititum/dielectric stuff that should last a while. After it was all back together, the turn signal switch works smooth and perfectly and cancels as it should. I also ran some cable lube into the throttle and choke cables. 

12/15/2013
I fired up Albee for the first time last night. Took a while to get fuel into the bowls and of course getting her to kick over and stay. Once going, she stayed strong and steady with choke. I need to up the idle a bit but I was able to drop the choke almost all the way off before idle dropped too low. 

Slight possible problem... There is a bit of clicky clacky gong on in the rear valves. Not terrible and it seems to not be as noticeable with higher revs. I'll prolly give another valve adjust a try, but not sure I want to try it with everything still on. We shall see. I do have a slight leak on the #1 cylinder water line, prolly due to those new o-rings not fitting from the rebuild kit and instead using the old ones. It's not bad and might stop once the o-ring rehydrates. 

Upside... No obvious leaks except for the small bleed on the water line. Not a lot of white/grey/black smoke on start up, so that's also a plus. Also... Low fuel light works!!! 

I am cleaning/derusting the tank now and will be putting that on tonight if all goes well. I got a new headlight bulb that will go in also plus new grips coming tomorrow. This project bike is almost ready for a trip around the block. 

12/18/2013
Finally got Albee all back together and took her for a spin around my complex. She's burning rich from the exhaust smells, which might also be why I can't get her to idle without a bit of choke, but otherwise she ran well. 

Funny side note: I get flagged down by someone from the complex's admin team. I stop and flip open the face screen to talk. She asks me what I'm doing? I tell her I just got done rebuilding this bike and was taking it for a slow test ride. She laughs as she tells me that someone called in reporting a motorcycle "racing around" the complex. I assure her that I never got above 15mph and that was only for a short blip. She's cool with it and tells me she rides as well. I tell her I'm heading home so hopefully she won't get any more calls from the crazy biker terrorizing the neighborhood. 

Now, we do have an issue with some younger people running their crotch rockets up and down the complex either showing off or "teaching" their friends to ride. So I understand it. I'm just confused how a slow speed rider could induce such fear and concern. :P

12/26/2013
Two steps forward and one step back on old Albee...

After my exciting spin around the complex last week, I didn't have a lot of time to do much and was waiting on adapters for the carb sync. I built my 4 bottle manometer and was ready to go once the parts showed up but I decided to readjust my throttle cables as well just in case I had set something too tight first. After getting it all set, I go to fire her up and discover that she won't run at all with throttle. The dreaded clogged fuel line/failed fuel pump scenario. I strain to hear the pump going at all during start-up and nothing. After a few quick tests to make sure, I unplug the harness and try running power straight to the pump. Nothing. Sigh... Off comes the pump and filter. I started to take it apart to see if I could clean the contacts or unstick whatever might have gotten stuck. I was able to manually work the pump and it still has pressure. But with the parts looking corroded and pitted it doesn't seem worth it to fix something that might just fail again on me when I don't want it to. I was looking over threads here and it seems I can use the one off a Prelude which looks pretty close physically for $65, which isn't too bad I guess. Then I found this little gem... (at least I hope it is a gem) while cruising the YouTubes. 

K&L Supply Universal Fuel Pump Point Switch Kit 18-4615
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0034ZMVKU/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It looks just like the parts that are corroded on mine as well as after watching the videos, it connects and sits right where mine should. I figure it is only $29 shipped from Amazon right now, so worst case I'm out $29 bucks and a couple of minutes of testing time. Best case, I have replaced the failed parts and the pump starts working fine again. While I am waiting for this to arrive, I am going to get a bottle of gas and manually cycle the pump several times pumping good gas through it to make sure it is good and clean inside there. 

01/10/2014
I got the new fuel pump points in and started to document the process, then realized that this video covers it already. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CmzkwuJlyA

Unfortunately for me, replacing the points did not fix the problem. This means that the failure/fault is inside the coils/guts of the pump and not and easy fix. I headed off to the parts store to see about a Honda Civic/Accord/Prelude pump that is LP and fits and won't cost me $165. Or else a Mr. Gasket 42s. But after seeing the physical pumps from Honda and even the Mr. Gasket pumps, none will fit in the limited space I have under the battery. Then I finally found what I think is the best fit for the V30s at least.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0027I88VQ/ref=pe_385040_30332190_TE_M3T1_ST1_dp_1

It is small enough to fit in the rubber mounting bracket. The fittings are already 5/16 (close enough to the 1/4 hoses in place now) and the only issue is rerouting the fuel lines to fit the flow through design versus the same side inlet/outlet. On the V4musclebike forum, someone mentioned taking apart the fuel pump halves and cleaning out the guts. I took the dead one aprt while waiting for the new one and didn't see a lot of anything I could fix. The diaphragm looked fine and as I noted before, the pump works if you manually operate the piston, so I'm back to it being something broken in the electrics. Possibly burned out from age or the thick crap that got sucked into the filter and possibly the pump. If your points look trashed, and manually working the pump pushes fuel thru it, it might be worth trying the Points Kit above. 

01/21/2014
The new pump came in and I finally had time to mess with it. I clipped the wires off the old pump close to the points and stripped off the sheath. I spliced the wires together and soldered everything solid then heat wrapped each wire then a big one to cover both wires at the splice. I was able to prerun the hoses from filter to pump and changed out the pumps outlet port to a 1/4" fitting since I wasn't too worried about the 5/16 fittings between filter and pump, but I needed the pump outlet to fit the old 1/4" line leading to the carbs. 

This is STOCK/OEM setup of the fuel delivery system on the V30

This is how I had to run the new pump since it is inline versus Inlet/Outlet on the same side.

After some finagling and mucking I was able to get the pump into place and made sure the lines were clear and as safe as I can make them. I wired it into the harness and the disconnected the fuel line at the carbs and directed that into a gas can. I turn the key "on" and flipped the STOP/RUN switch to RUN and the pump chattered to life quickly pulling fuel through the system and into the gas can. I stopped everything and reconnected the line to the carbs and ran the pump again. Then hit the starter. She fired up pretty quickly and was running with choke. I tried to mess with the IDLE setting again, but even with choke she would die if I blipped the throttle at all. I'm pretty sure some crap got into the carbs during all this. 

The plan as it stands now is to pull the carbs again and do an in place cleaning of the float bowls, jets, fuel jet filters, and possibly the diaphragms to make sure everything is clean and not plugged up with gunk. I make also run the pump with the float drains open to make sure fuel is reaching all 4 carbs equally. 

On the legal front, I am still waiting on the title and/or bill of sale. I trust my buddy who I got the bike from. But I do not know the registered "owner" at all, and am slightly worried that he may just up and decide he wants the bike back. And since I have no bill of sale, and my buddy cant find his, I could be screwed. My buddy say not to worry, but honestly until I have the piece of paper in my hot sweaty hands I will continue to worry. 

Feeling so far on this project?
I am very happy I am doing it even with all the headaches and struggles. I have always enjoyed building and fixing things and have learned a lot about motorcycles already. So of it car knowledge that simply translates, but a lot of new knowledge. I am excited to get this bike rolling again and my hope is even if I do buy something else newer, I will keep this old gal for many years to come. Sort of doing my part to keep a little bit of motorcycle history alive. 

Putting the Geek back in GreaseMonkeyGeek!

   I realize that I haven't posted a lot of GEEK stuff here... technically I haven't posted any at all. So I will now regale you with the process of my first effort into painting Dwarven Forge Dungeon Tiles from their recent KickStarter. I opted for the unpainted ones (2 sets plus some add-ons) and am happy I did so.

   This first picture is the original color that they come in straight from the molds. It is sort of a chocolate brown and has a slick sheen to it. You could in theory leave the tiles as is with just this coloring, but they are pretty plain and lack pop.

   Using the tutorial provided by the DF guys on their website, I attempted to paint up my first handful of tiles using the main L-shape floor/wall sections and a couple of corner sections. The basic process is as follows. First you take the gray base and do a mostly dry brush light coat. The idea is to cover most of the tile but not to fill in all the little details. I found that as I went along, I would actually fill in more in some areas on one then less in that same area on the next one. This gave each piece a little more uniqueness as I went on to later steps. Initially, this was just me using too much paint at first and then less as the brush dried some, but I liked how it came out and kept doing it.

    The next step is to do the detailing on a small number of stones to add a little more color and variety to the tiles. This is done with an earth tone lighter brown that you can see in the pictures. You only need to do a couple of these per wall section and on some I did only two or three total. This was also an area that you can create variety by how many and where you place these highlight stones.

   The third step is to dry brush on a olive sand color. This is done with a very dry brush and several times I had to rub down the tiles using a paper towel because I had used too much even after I was sure I wiped enough off. When in doubt, wipe more off. In the end though, it was pretty easy to get the hang of and again I added more to some places and less to others for subtle highlights. But BE CAREFUL!!! It is easy to over apply.

   The final step is to dry brush on the light color final highlight coat. The color they sell is Stone Edge and is almost white with a hint of sand/eggshell. It gives the tile the stone look you want at the very end and that you can see in the pictures. This is a SUPER dry brush technique. As in even more so than the olive sand. I'm talking you are taking almost every last bit of color off the brush before you lightly dust the tile. You will see it as you start, so I suggest starting on the sides since those get placed next to each other and the brighter layer wont show as much. You can also simply repaint it. But it's always better to try to fix it when possible. So yeah... SUPER DRY brush, VERY LIGHT dusting and you will bring out a lot of details.

   Once you get the hang of it on a couple of tiles, you can move on to what I did... assembly line!!! The first picture, you can see I have done the basic gray coat (left most tiles) and started adding in the highlight brown stones(right most of the tile rows). You can also see the contrast of a finished tile on the far right (L-shape) and the one just above it (corner tile) where there is the first three steps, but the final dry brush has not been applied. 

   Here you can see the assembly line waiting for the tiles to dry so I can move on to the next batch.

   I wanted to add in some very different tiles for times when I wanted either a smaller room totally different, or to add a slight change to an existing gray base room. Instead of starting with the gray stone base, I used the Earth stone color as the base. Then I used the base gray to highlight stones and then did step 3 and 4 as normal. This created a desert-esque color that I really liked. If I were to buy another set of these, I would probably go ahead and do at least half of them up in this other color option. I think it really adds to the possible options.

   I have several free standing wall sections to do along with some special features like trap doors and gates. As well as dungeon dress-up stuff like barrels and beds and treasure chests. Since I have not picked up any other paints besides the four I got with the KickStarter, I am pretty limited with my color options. Between this and the Reaper KickStarter, I have a lot of fun stuff to look forward to painting and hopefully using soon in some games. I will post those reports up as I get them done as well as an update to this one when I get around to painting up the rest of the DF Dungeon tiles and accessories.

   So there you go... a little more Geek to compensate for all the GreaseMonkey.

Project BAMSFH™ - Part 7

Project BAMSFH™ The light at the end of the tunnel... a.k.a The Home Stretch... a.k.a. Dear gods I hope that isn't a train.

I was able to get some stuff done on the Project BAMSFH this weekend making this the final week of major things, as long as everything goes well. But of course it can never be that easy and I'm still smacking myself... and of course reminding myself that this was my first motorcycle carb rebuild as well as my first 4-carb rebuild. 

Now on to the story...

This weekend I was able to get a lot of the crud out of the radiator, but not all of it. I tried vinegar soaking and even CLR/Lime-a-way and while helping, it did not get most of the visible buildup. There is solid flow through the radiator from inlet to outlet, so it seems like it is mostly external scaling. I decided it was good enough for now and flushed it several more times to make sure I wouldn't missing some big chunks that could later on find their way into the engine. I plan to run some Prestone Radiator Flush once it is running in hopes of getting the rest out .

I was also able to get the hoses replaced on the petcock -> filter -> pump setup and using my battery I manually ran it initially with water, to make sure it even worked and then again with SeaFoam infused gas. The idea there being to not only remove any gas varnish in the system, but also flush out any chunks. The pump ran well and seemed to have good pressure, so that is a huge plus.

Having finished the last of the big tasks, I was ready to start putting things back together. This includes finally reconnecting all the water, air, and fuel lines (I ended up leaving the fuel line disconnected for now so I can test the flow from the pump through the whole system) and started to put the air box back on. It came out with a little finagling, but for the life of me I could not get it to go back in. After about 10 minutes of pushing and shoving and angling and swearing, I noticed that the two bolts that hold the air cleaner to the carb plenum didn't look like they would line up even after I got the air box on.

"Huh..." Says I as I start to turn and spin things and finally go to grab the iPad with the copy of the service manual on it. I noticed at once what my problem was. If you guessed that I put the carb plenum on backwards... you win a prize!!

Having no intention of removing the entire carb assembly, I decided to try to remove just the plenum. It came off easy and at first went on easy once I nudged the carbs into slightly different angles. I went slowly and finally got it lined up right and tightened down. Then I realized I pushed one of the air tubes going into the plenum wrong and it pulled the o-ring/gasket in with it. Off goes the plenum again, I fix tube and gasket, and back on again... wiggle wiggle line up the carbs. YAY! Back on and tightened.

I get about halfway through tightening down the airbox when I look over and see the little brass cover that goes over the air tubes inside the plenum. Expletives deleted for the sake of the children. Back off goes all the panels and bits that I need to remove to get the airbox back out. Finally, after several hours longer than it should have taken, I have everything back on the bike except for the main tank.

This week I should get the last of the parts I need and if all goes well, I will be firing up the beast this weekend. I still need to do one more flush of the main tank and reattach it, drill out the sheared off caliper bolt and put in the new one, run some lube into the cables, and check the chain tension. I'm sure I have a few more little things to do, but I'm getting close.

Fingers crossed this thing will be alive by next week!

Project BAMSFH™ - Part 6

Project BAMSFH™ sage continues...

My updates here have been very sporadic, mostly because I have been insanely busy, but at least the end is here. I have stepped down from the co-head position with the local chapter of a world wide non-profit organization (read: Prince of the Mists, West Kingdom, SCA), and hope to have more free time over the foreseeable future of weekends.

Almost a month has passed since my last blog, mostly due to preparing to step down from above said position. In those long weeks and days, I have found some time to work on a couple of things here and there. Notably, I received the carb boots in the mail along with a replacement bolt for the front caliper. I decided that while I have it all apart anyways, I might as well pop the valve covers and make sure things are good inside there. A lot of my reading since starting this project has pointed out that when rebuilding the carbs, it doesn't do a lot of good to not check you valve clearances.

So one bright morning, I got to work on the valve covers. The front cover came off pretty easy, but the rear cover was a royal bitch. I had to slowly and carefully wiggle and turn and angle it to finally get it out. Both covers were a mess which doesn't bode well for the gaskets but they looked fine other than being a bit dry and not so squishy. I cleaned them both off and set them aside after applying some oil based gasket restorer.

Breaking out with my trusty wrenches and feeler gauges, I processed to try to find top dead center. Then I ran into my first speed bump. On the right side is a screwed on plug that covers the place where you can see if you are TDC or not. It of course was locked up tight. I sprayed some WD-40 in there and attempted to knock something loose. No go. More WD-40 and tapping. No go. More WD-40 and some hammer taps and screwdriver force. No go. Realizing I am close to stripping out the screw slot, I raise the white flag and move onto plan B. Pulling the plug from Cyl-1 I slowly turn the engine with my finger down inside the spark plug hole. I can feel the pressure rising and hear the escaping air, here comes TDC for that cylinder. Watching carefully up in the valve/rocker area I watch to see when TDC is achieved. Finally finding it, I loosen the lock nut and start adjusting the gap. It is super tight on Cyl-1 intake, but on the looser end of the scale on exhaust. After some fiddling, rotating the engine two full turns, more adjustment and fiddling, more tunring of the engine... (you get the point) I finally get it where I am happy with it being snug but on the looser end which I read is better than too tight. One more half turn to get the rocker under force for the lock nuts and I torqued them down. Same pattern for each of the remaining cylinders working my way around 2 then 3 then 4. I don't see anything that alarms me inside the valve area and everything seems tight and solid, so that is a good thing, I think.

The rear valve cover was just as much of a pain in the ass to put back on as it was to take off, but I finally got it on.... BACKWARDS!!!! ARRRGG!!! OK... deep breaths. wiggled it out, turned it around, wiggled it back in. Now I have the valve covers back on and tightened up. I will keep an eye on the gaskets to see if I have leaks once I start her up and let her run for a bit.

Installing the carbs with new boots... SO MUCH EASIER! with a little bit of grease and angling them slightly upwards, all it took was some wiggling and downward pressure as I straddled the bike. I felt them pop into place and visually inspected things to make sure they in fact seated properly. Once I tightened down the hose clamps I realized that I had forgotten to install the new water tube o-rings. Which of course can only be accessed with the carbs off the bike. Sigh... called it a night.

Last Thursday night, I finally had time to pull the carbs again and replace the water tube o-rings, but discovered that the o-ring/gaskets in there were bigger than the ones sent in the Basic Carb Rebuild kit. At first I thought it was just them being smooshed flat, but even smooshed they were still ~33% thicker than the new ones provided. The problem is that once you attach the water tubes screw down mount, it pulls the tubes back a bit and the smaller o-rings unseat. Thankfully, the originals were still in good shape and I ended up reusing them. I'll let you know how they hold up once I get to the point. I sent off an email to V4 Market about this, and they said they would look into it. I'm fine with the ones I have in there if they don't leak, but wanted them to know so that they can fix the sizing so that the next guy doesn't end up in trouble with bad o-rings and replacements that won't fit.

With the carbs off again, I was able to get the throttle and choke cables attached. I checked and double checked many times to make sure I was attaching the cables in the correct direction. Then reinstalled the carbs and tightened everything down. Then I reached to test the throttle snap... huh, I don't think it is supposed to twist forwards. Yup, Installed the cables backwards. Sigh... no time to fix it now.

Skip to last night, and me having time to fiddle with the beast. I got the carbs off again pretty easy (new carb boots and experience starting to pay off) and spent several minutes fighting with the cables, carbs, and adjusters (what I would have given to have 4 arms right then and there) and finally was able to get it all connect up in the proper direction. Then with my new found carb installation experience, I angled the boots and easily seated the carbs back on and got them tightened up.

Tested choke, works fine and no binding. Tested throttle, rolls on the correct direction and snaps closed with no hesitation. WOOT! Swung handlebars left and right, no catch and no visible pull on the cables.

Next up, radiator flush while it is off the bike. Then on to the fuel pump! Fingers crossed I might actually be ready to fire up Project BAMSFH™ before the end of the year!!!!